World of Warcraft
Warrior Guide
(\/)This is bunny
(oo)He is the closest thing I can make to ASCII art
(o)o)This is why the title is plain text
---------------
Version History
---------------
V1.0: Guide started
v1.01: Guide submitted with the margins fixed
v1.1: 29/05/06
Improved layout and put contact details at the start of the guide
Updated legal info so sites that advertise gold canÂ’t use the guide
Added guide for shamans and updated some others.
Began the equipment section
Added the universal aggro macro
Began adding the date to updates
If you see any mistakes or have any suggestions for this guide,
E-mail Stu1611@aol.com. You will receive full credit in the guide.
If you want to contact me in WoW, I am on Chromaggus server, on the horde. My
Char is a level 60 Tauren warrior called Pangobos. I am currently doing
UBRS/scholo/strat baron runs and I will pay good money for 5,6,8 of warlords.
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Contents
--------
()1. Why be a warrior?
()2. What race?
()3. Abilities
()4. Talents
()5. Soloing
()6. Tanking
()7. PvP
()8. Professions & secondary skills
()9. Quests
()10.Macros
()11.FAQ
()12.Equipment
()13.Special Thanks
()14.Legal mumbo-jumbo
The () before each number are designed to help navigate this guide. Press
ctrl-F and type in ()# to get to that section of the guide
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()1. Why be a warrior?
----------------------
In virtually every fantasy RPG game I have played, I have intended to play a
mage. However, after reading the manual on the way home or starting to play I
found that mages were generally a difficult class to play and decided to play a
warrior, at least until I got the hang of it. However, by the time I had got the
hang of the game, I was already used to being a warrior and I didnÂ’t want to
start again.
The warrior in World of Warcraft is very different from the warrior of other
RPGs. Rather than only be able to hit things with a sword/axe/mace and wear very
heavy armour, warriors in WoW have a variety of abilities to improve their
attacks and do nasty stuff to enemies. They can also use different stances to
affect how much damage they deal and receive and are defiantly a big step
forward for RPG warriorkind. As a result, warriors are not an easy option for a
first time player.
Many people say that warriors are underpowered. While they receive some
disadvantages, when played well they can be just as powerful as any other class.
+-------------------------------------+-------------------------------------+
| Advantages of being a warrior | Disadvantages of being a warrior |
+-------------------------------------+-------------------------------------+
|ItÂ’s usually easy to find instance |Some people whisper you with group |
|groups because every group needs a |invites without checking where you |
|tank. |are. |
|Armour drops that you need are only |You have no transport abilities until|
|ever needed by you, shamans (up to |you get a mount. |
|level 40) & paladins).These classes |Being equipment heavy means you need |
|are relatively uncommon in PvE groups.|to replace equipment regularly. |
|You can equip any weapon type (except|Your job in groups is the most |
|wands) with training. |difficult job of all- tanking. |
|Against green level enemies, you can |Grinding is slow as you have a low dps|
|sometimes sit back and watch your |If you change weapon types, you must |
|character hack away at something and |grind weapon skill before you can use|
|win. This is very handy if the server|it properly |
|lags |People generally want the tank to be |
|Because you are gear heavy, you get |the highest level in the group. This |
|more effect from epic gear. |means you often canÂ’t go to instances|
|Warriors make excellent battleground |until you are 1-2 levels higher than |
|twinks |the minimum. |
|You donÂ’t need to buy water | |
|Warriors can be any race | |
+-------------------------------------+-------------------------------------+
--------------
(2).What race
--------------
As warriors can be any race, I would recommend picking your favourite race
without worrying about the abilities. However, if you really care about having
racials that help your class then all the races and what is good about them is
here. The stat differences have little effect later on in the game.
--------
Alliance
--------
Humans
-Perception helps against rogues but as warriors are good against rogues anyway,
this doesnÂ’t help too much
-The spirit bonus is small and doesnÂ’t help warriors much
-The reputation bonus is always nice but nothing special
-Sword and mace bonuses help but they become less noticeable at high levels and
tend to make players avoid otherwise good axes.
Night Elves
-Shadowmeld is great because it allows you to avoid battles you donÂ’t want and
allows you to hide and get the first hit with charge.
+1% dodge is more noticeable than you would think, and makes revenge available
more when tanking
-Wisp is nice but to be honest, if you need wisp a lot then youÂ’re doing
something wrong
-The nature resistance bonus is low but great for mara and AQ
Dwarves
-I havenÂ’t played as a dwarf before but if stoneform dispels bleed, poison and
disease then it is good
-Gun skill doesnÂ’t help much as your primary combat style is melee. You only
need range attacks for pulling
-Frost resistance would be great if it wasnÂ’t such a small amount, as frost
spells often bring a variety of slow and immobilise effects.
-Treasure finding is not much use as chests are easy to see and addons such as
gatherer can mark them on the map anyway.
Gnomes
-Escape artist gets you out of roots. This is good as often if you canÂ’t move,
you canÂ’t hit.
-Intelligence is useless as a warrior
-Arcane resistance isnÂ’t very useful
-The engineering bonus is useful if you choose engineering as a profession,
useless if you donÂ’t.
-----
Horde
-----
Orcs
-Blood fury changes its effect so often, IÂ’m not sure what it does anymore.
However, it generally helps melee attacks
-Hardiness is good against rogues and when tanking. Combined with the Iron Will
talent you can get 40%? resist chance for stuns.
-The increase in pet damage is useless as you donÂ’t have a pet
-The axe skill increase is useful as axes are used in the PvP crit spec. Just
remember that you donÂ’t have to use axes if a good sword/hammer drops.
Tauren
-War stomp interrupts spells, stops the enemy fighting for a bit, reveals
rogues, needs no rage, can help you escape enemies and needs no rage. It more
than makes up for Â‘got milkÂ’ jokes.
+5% hp makes you even tougher than other warriors. The bonus can be quite a bit
later on as it is a percentage increase.
-The herbalism bonus is obviously good if you do herbalism, useless if you
donÂ’t.
-The nature resistance is the same as the bonus for night elves- good in AQ and
Mara but a bit low.
Trolls
-Berserking gives a nice attack bonus towards the end of a battle but requires
rage to use
-The regeneration bonus helps reduce downtime and when tanking allows you to
continue regenerating at 1/10 speed. Try combining it with other regen gear and
Bloodthirst and you can be as tough as a loladin.
-Beast slaying gives a good bonus when fighting beasts and is useless when you
arenÂ’t
-Throwing weapon skill doesnÂ’t help much as thrown weapons are often less
effective than guns/bows. Even rogues stop using them.
Undead
-Will of the forsaken is often considered to be one of the best racials in the
game as it dispels fear, charm and sleep. However, charm and sleep are rare and
warriors can dispel fear with berserker rage so this ability is only good when
tanking and in defensive stance.
-Cannibalise can reduce downtime as you donÂ’t need to wait for mana.
-There are very few situations when underwater breath helps.
-Shadow resistance is useful against locks and priests.
--------------
()3 Abilities
--------------
Instead of using mana to use abilities, warriors use rage. Unlike mana, rage is
generated throughout a battle and gradually resets to 0 after it. If you
quickly engage another enemy then you can keep the rage left over from the
previous battle. Rage is generated by:
-Dealing damage with normal attacks
-Taking damage
-Blocking (with a talent)
-Charge
-Bloodrage
-Berserker rage (generates extra rage when hit and with a talent generates
instant rage
Warriors have the ability to use different stances in battle. Some skills can
only be used in certain stances. The stances are:
Battle Stance- A balanced stance that allows a wide selection of skills. It is
a good stance to use when solo or about to attack something
Defensive stance- Acquired from a level 10 quest, defensive stance reduces
damage dealt and taken by 10%, increases threat generated and allows the use of
defensive abilities. It is the best stance for tanking or travelling.
Berserker stance- Learnt via a level 30 quest, berserker stance increase your
chance to get a critical hit by 3% but increases damage taken by 10% and reduces
threat generated. This stance is good when dps in groups, PvPing and often
soloing.
Heroic strike-
Effect-Increases the damage of your next melee attack by x and causes a high
amount of threat. Also causes that attack to generate no rage. Requires a
melee weapon.
Cost-15 rage (reduced to 12 with talent)
All stances
+------+--------------+----------------+---+
|Rank |Level required| Training cost | X |
+------+--------------+----------------+---+
|1 |1 |Learnt at start |11 |
|2 |8 | 2s |21 |
|3 |16 | 20s |32 |
|4 |24 | 80s |44 |
|5 |32 | 1g 26s |58 |
|6 |40 | 1g 98s |80 |
|7 |48 | 4g |111|
|8 |56 | 5g 80s |138|
|9 |60 | Book |157|
+------+--------------+----------------+---+
This is a good attack early on but later attacks such as mortal strike end up
rendering it obsolete. It doesnÂ’t use the global cooldown so it can be used
when you are generating too much rage. The threat generated is less than sunder
or revenge so it is not great for tanking unless you need a rage dump.
Battle shout-
Effect- Increases the attack power of you and all party members within 20 yards
by x for 2 minutes. Shouts do not need a melee weapon but canÂ’t be used when
silenced.
Cost-10 rage
All stances
+------+---------------+---------------+---+
|Rank |Level required | Training cost | X |
+------+---------------+---------------+---+
|1 |1 | 10c |15 |
|2 |12 | 10s |35 |
|3 |22 | 60s |55 |
|4 |32 | 1g 26s |85 |
|5 |42 | 2g 88s |130|
|6 |52 | 4g 86s |185|
|7 |60 | Book |232|
+------+---------------+---------------+---+
This ability gives a serious boost to the amount of damage you deal and when
used in groups with rogues in, is even more effective. Try and keep the effect
on at all times when fighting. If the group has a dps warrior, he/she should use
battle shout so the tank can conserve rage for holding aggro.
Charge
Charges at an enemy 8-25yds away, generating x rage and stunning them for 1
second. While charging, you move at about double speed that can be affected by
slow but the enemy canÂ’t escape from the charge. Charge canÂ’t be used in combat
or when immobilised.
Cooldown-15 seconds
Battle Stance
+------+---------------+---------------+---+
|Rank |Level required | Training cost | X |
+------+---------------+---------------+---+
|1 |4 | 1s |9 |
|2 |26 | 1g |12 |
|3 |46 | 3g 60s |15 |
+------+---------------+---------------+---+
Charge gets you into combat quickly so you donÂ’t get shot, generates some rage
and gives you 1 second of stun to use it. The rage generated is great for
applying a battle shout, hamstring or sunder.
Rend
Rend wounds the target and makes them bleed, causing X damage over Y seconds.
Some enemies are immune to bleed effects. Rend can be used with a mace but not
while unarmed.
Cost-10 rage
Battle stance or defensive stance
+------+---------------+---------------+---+---+
|Rank | Level required| Training cost | X | Y |
+------+---------------+---------------+---+---+
|1 |4 | 1s |15 |9 |
|2 |10 | 6s |28 |12 |
|3 |20 | 40s |45 |15 |
|4 |30 | 1g 20s |66 |18 |
|5 |40 | 2g 20s |98 |21 |
|6 |50 | 4g 20s |126|21 |
|7 |60 | 4g 96s |147|21 |
+------+---------------+---------------+---+---+
Many players consider the damage from rend too low for it to be worth it.
However, warrior damage is quite low in general. Rather than using it for
damage purposes, the bleed effect counts as a hit every 3 seconds for spells
and unstealths rogues that use vanish. I try and keep it on enemies anyway
unless another ability effect is more important.
Thunder Clap
Blasts up to 4 nearby targets with thunder, slowing their attack speed by 10%
for x seconds and causing y damage. Thunder clap requires no melee weapon.
Cost-20 rage
Battle stance
4 second cooldown
+------+---------------+---------------+---+---+
|Rank | Level required| Training cost | X | Y |
+------+---------------+---------------+---+---+
|1 |6 | 1s |10 |10 |
|2 |18 | 27s |14 |23 |
|3 |28 | 1g 10s |18 |45 |
|4 |38 | 2g |22 |55 |
|5 |48 | 3g 60s |26 |82 |
|6 |58 | 6g |30 |103|
+------+---------------+---------------+---+---+
While the rage cost of thunder clap is high, the damage is quite good if you hit
the maximum 4 targets and it slows their attack speed, giving you more time to
live. It generates aggro on all 4 targets but as it is battle stance only, it
should be used immediately after charge. The final use of this attack is
unstealthing rogues, but it only really works against vanish.
Hamstring
Slows the opponent to x% of their movement speed and causes y damage for 15
seconds.
10 rage
Battle or berserker stance
+------+---------------+---------------+---+---+
|Rank | Level required| Training cost | X | Y |
+------+---------------+---------------+---+---+
|1 |8 | 2s |60 |5 |
|2 |32 | 1g 40s |55 |18 |
|3 |54 | 5g 60s |50 |45 |
+------+---------------+---------------+---+---+
Hamstring is one of the best PvP abilities warriors have. It is hard to dispel
and prevents the enemy form getting any distance to fight from. In WSG,
hamstring can be used on flag carriers to stop them running. The final use of
this spell is escaping. Use it on an enemy that is going to kill you and run, as
it walks after you.
Bloodrage
Converts 7% of your health into 10 rage and generates 1 more rage every second
for 10 seconds. For these extra 10 seconds, you count as being in combat. If you
use this out of combat, a bug can cause you to count as being in combat after it
finishes.
1 min cooldown
Level-10
Training cost-4s 80c
Bloodrage used to cost 20% of your health but now it only costs 7%, it is a
great ability. The 10 rage is enough for a hamstring, shield bash or battle
shout and when tanking, it can give you enough rage to get some serious agro at
the start of a battle. Bloodrage canÂ’t be used to commit suicide- if you have
less than 7% health it canÂ’t be used.
Sunder armour
Reduces your targets armour by x for 30 seconds. Because you are wrecking their
armour, this causes a lot of agro from the target. Sunder armour can stack up to
5 times. Each time it is used, the countdown for all the sunders on the target
resets. If 2 warriors sunder the same target, the sunders will stack as one
debuff, as long as they are the same rank. Different ranks canÂ’t be combined.
Cost-15 rage
+------+---------------+---------------+---+
|Rank |Level required | Training cost | X |
+------+---------------+---------------+---+
|1 |10 | Quest |90 |
|2 |22 | 60s |180|
|3 |34 | 1g 60s |270|
|4 |46 | 3g 24s |360|
|5 |58 | 6g |450|
+------+---------------+---------------+---+
Sunder armour should be your primary ability when tanking. As well as allowing
you and rogues to deal more damage, the threat generated is apparently equal to
5x the armour loss. Unfortunately, sunder armour is rarely worth using when
solo, as heroic strikes and rends will usually do more damage.
Taunt
Taunts the target, causing it to attack you. There is no effect if the target is
already attacking you.
Level 10
10 second cooldown
Defensive stance
Learnt from the defensive stance quest
No global cooldown
Taunt requires no rage and is useful when tanking because it will get an enemy
off someone no matter how much they have agroed it. Once it is taunted, you will
have an equal threat to the person with the highest threat. This means that if
you donÂ’t hit it with a sunder, it will often go back to attacking the other
target again.
Overpower
Overpowers the enemy, instantly dealing weapon damage plus x. Overpower can only
be used if the enemy has dodged within the last 5 seconds and it must be used on
the enemy that dodged. Overpower cannot be blocked, dodged or parried but it can
miss.
Cost-5 rage
Battle stance
6 second cooldown
+------+---------------+---------------+---+
|Rank |Level required | Training cost | X |
+------+---------------+---------------+---+
|1 |12 | 10s | 5 |
|2 |28 | 1g 10s |15 |
|3 |44 | 3g 40s |25 |
|4 |60 | 6g 20s |35 |
+------+---------------+---------------+---+
Overpower is yet another reason why warriors own rogues. You should always use
overpower when possible as it is basically a free attack for 5 rage. Once you
get the hang of quickly changing stances, learn to switch to battle stance, use
it and switch back. With the improved overpower talent, the crit chance is
increased by 50%, making it more powerful than the dodged attack. There are many
addons that can be downloaded that make sound effects when the target dodges.
Statistics for the abilities from this point are not included because it takes
too long. They will be added in a later update so donÂ’t worry.:)
Shield bash
Bashes the target with a shield, interrupting spell casting and preventing
spells from that class from being casted for 6 seconds. It causes a pitiful
amount of damage.
10 rage
Requires a shield
12 second cooldown (shared with pummel)
Battle or defensive stance
This is a really nice skill to use against casters, particularly healers. You
canÂ’t stop everything with this as the cooldown is twice as long as the effect
but it limits what the enemy can throw at you. When fighting healers, only bash
healing spells.
Demoralising shout
Shouts at nearby enemies, reducing their attack power for 30 seconds.
10 rage
This is worth using. It makes enemies less powerful so you live longer and
generates a small amount of agro on all of them. It isnÂ’t the best ability but
it is cheap to use and can be improved by talents
Revenge
Revenge instantly counterattacks a target, causing damage and a lot of threat.
It can only be used after you block, dodge or parry but doesnÂ’t have to hit the
target that strikes you.
5 rage
5 second cooldown
Defensive stance
Revenge generates the most threat of any ability and only costs 5 rage. It is
only useful when tanking. It should be used as an alternative to sunder when
possible. As with overpower, there are addons that indicate when it should be
used.
Mocking Blow
A mocking attack that causes damage and forces a target to attack you for 6
seconds.
10 rage
2 min cooldown
Battle stance
IÂ’m going to be honest here, while I know mocking blow, I have NEVER used it.
This is because it is battle stance only when it is a tanking move. If you have
tactical mastery and know how to stance dance then it is ok but the 2 minute
cooldown limit its effectiveness.
Shield Block
Increases your chance to block by 75% for 5 second, but only blocks one attack.
With talents it can block 2.
10 rage
Requires a shield
5 second cooldown
No global cooldown
Defensive stance
Shield block is a good ability to use when tanking if you have the spare rage
but the rage is better spent on a sunder. Another use of this is when running,
you can reduce the damage you take.
Disarm
Disarms the targets weapon for 10 seconds, causing them to do very little damage
and look very foolish. It can even be used if you get disarmed first
20 rage
1 min cooldown
Defensive stance
Disarm is another powerful PvP skill. It is only worth using against melee
classes as casters are hardly affected. It is possible to get immunity to disarm
with some gloves or by getting a weapon chain from a blacksmith. NPCs receive
less of an effect from disarm and most donÂ’t have weapons equipped.
Cleave
Causes your next attack to hit your target and its nearest ally for slightly
more than weapon damage
20 rage
Cleave affects your next attack in the same way that Heroic Strike does. As a
result of this, it isnÂ’t affected by the global cooldown. It works better with
big slow two handed weapons than with faster weapons.
Last stand (talent)
Instantly heals you by 30% of your maximum hitpoints. After 20 seconds, these
hitpoints are lost. If you have less than 30% hp when this happens, you are
reduced to 1hp.
10 minute cooldown
I donÂ’t use this because of my talent spec but it looks good for emergencies.
Piercing Howl (talent)
Causes all nearby enemies to be dazed for 6 seconds. The daze effect reduces
their speed by 50%.
10 rage
This could work for escaping from more than one enemy. In PvP hamstring is
usually better except for one thing- Druids. Druids can shift between cow/elf
and transport form to get immunity to hamstring and most other movement
impairing effects. They canÂ’t shift out of daze.
Retaliation
Instantly counterattack all melee attacks from in front of you for 15 seconds.
Up to 30 attacks can be countered in this way.
Battle stance
30 minute cooldown (shared with shield wall & recklessness)
Even with the recent nerfs, retaliation is still a great ability to have in
emergencies. In groups, challenging shout followed by retaliation can sort out a
bad pull easily but the 30 minute cooldown means you should only use it if
someone will die otherwise.
Intimidating shout
Shout, causing the target to cower in fear and up to 5 nearby enemies run in
fear. Lasts 8 seconds
25 rage
3 minute cooldown
While the new limit in targets stops it from scaring AV groups :( , it now
affects the target. It can be interrupted by damage but you can still get a good
amount of time to deal damage or get cooldowns back. Just one warning though,
NEVER use this in a dungeon.
Execute
Attempts to finish off the target, instantly causing a lot of damage and
converting each additional rage point into more damage. It can only be used on
enemies with 20% hp or less.
15 rage (but all rage is used for bonus damage)
Battle/berserker stance
When an enemy is below 20% hp, spamming execute allows you to outdamage rogues.
It does burn all your rage so sometimes it isnÂ’t the best technique. While
tanking, it is possible to hold aggro on bosses with execute.
Execute crits can cause the highest damage for one ability in world of Warcraft.
The picture linked below is old and was engineered to produce the high damage
but it still shows what execute can do.
http://server3.uploadit.org/files/basmane-ExecuteRecord.jpg
Challenging shout
A shout that causes all nearby enemies to attack you for 6 seconds. I think it
generates threat in the same way as taunt so if you do nothing, the enemy will
return to their original targets after 6 seconds.
5 rage
10 minute cooldown
Challenging shout is an emergency skill for instances. Combined with
retaliation, it can be devastating.
Shield Wall
Reduces all damage taken by 75% for 10 seconds.
Requires a shield
Defensive stance
30 min cooldown (shared with retaliation & recklessness)
Shield wall has the same uses as retaliation but it works against range attacks.
I donÂ’t use it much because retaliation seems so much better, but when tanking
or running with the flag in WSG, it can be useful.
Concussive blow (talent)
Stuns the enemy for 5 seconds.
A very powerful PvP ability as 5 seconds is a surprising amount. Not as useful
in PvE as many enemies are immune.
Death Wish (talent)
Increases physical damage dealt by 20% but reduces armour and resistances by
20%. Also dispels fear and provides immunity.
This counts as a debuff so you canÂ’t dispel it
IÂ’ve never used this but I can see how it could be very powerful, particularly
if combined with recklessness. The penalty is minimal as 20% armour loss
doesnÂ’t mean 20% more damage. ItÂ’s worth getting for fury warriors.
Intercept
10 rage
Berserker stance
8-25yd range
30 second cooldown
Charges the opponent, causing damage and stunning the enemy for 3 seconds.
Combined with hamstring, intercept makes you almost immune to kiting, as you can
get to melee range of anyone. This is always worth using.
Slam
15 rage
1.5 second cast
Melee range
Slams the enemy for weapon damage + a small amount (less than heroic strike)
Slam has very limited uses. If you are being hit, it takes ages to cast so it
sucks. If you are using a slow weapon, it does less damage than melee attacks
and sucks. I use it after intercept and war stomp if I have the rage but even
then itÂ’s still not great
Sweeping strikes (talent)
30 rage
Battle Stance
45 sec cooldown
Your next 5 melee attacks or abilities strike an additional opponent that is
within attack range of both you and your target. Only the damage is applied to
target 2 and the attacks must be used within 15 seconds.
Whirlwind and cleave now only receive one additional strike but can hit an enemy
twice.
Sweeping strikes is a good ability if you are against 2 enemies as it
effectively gives you 5 free attacks for 30 rage.
Berserker rage
Berserker stance
30 second cooldown
Dispels fear and incapacitate, provides immunity and increases rage generated
when hit for 10 seconds.
When fighting anything with fear/incapacitate, I save this so I can dispel it.
When fighting anything without it, I use it anyway for the extra rage.
Whirlwind attack
25 rage
Berserker stance
6 second cooldown
Attacks up to 4 nearby enemies, dealing weapon damage to each.
This is a great ability for PvE if you go DPS and battlegrounds. It as also good
for instant damage if you have lots of rage and need to spend it.
Pummel
10 rage
Berserker stance
10 second cooldown
Interrupts spellcasting and prevents casting of spells from that school for 4
seconds. Also cause a small amount of damage
Pummel is the PvP version of shield bash because it uses berserker stance and no
shield. See the PvP strategy for more details.
Bloodthirst (uber fury talent)
30 rage
6 second cooldown
Instantly causes damage equal to 45% of your attack power and causes your next 5
attacks within 8 seconds to heal you by a small amount.
Bloodthirst and mortal strike are often the subject of debates as to which is
better but in my opinion, they are both as good as each other when used with
that tree. Mortal strike favours 2h weapons for the damage while Bloodthirst
favours dual-wielding so you can get all the healing effect.
Mortal Strike (uber arms talent)
30 rage
6 second cooldown
Instantly attacks the enemy for weapon damage + a small amount and reduces
healing on the target by 50% for 10 seconds.
See Bloodthirst.
Shield Slam (uber protection talent)
30 rage
6 second cooldown
Requires shield
Causes damage and has a 50% chance of removing a magic effect from the target.
Also causes a high amount of threat.
Recklessness
Berserker stance
30 min cooldown (linked with Retaliation and Shield wall)
Increases crit chance by 100% and makes you immune to fear effects for 15
seconds. Also increases damage taken by 20%.
Normally, this doubles your damage output. However if you charge full rage up,
use deathwish, have flurry and impale and maybe even troll berserker orc blood
fury, this is even more powerful. You can solo elites with this method.
------------
()4.Talents
------------
This section contains various talent builds. If you know of a good build, E-mail
it to Stu1611@aol.com
My spec
-------
Minimum Required Level: 54
Required Talent Points: 45
Arms Talents - 35 points
Deflection - rank 5/5
Improved Rend - rank 3/3
Improved Charge - rank 2/2
Tactical Mastery - rank 5/5
Improved Overpower - rank 2/2
Anger Management - rank 1/1
Deep Wounds - rank 3/3
Two-Handed Weapon Specialization - rank 5/5
Impale - rank 2/2
Sweeping Strikes -rank 1/1
Polearm Specialization - rank 5/5 (can be replaced with axe specialisation)
Mortal Strike - rank 1/1
Fury Talents - 5 points
Cruelty - rank 5/5
Protection Talents - 5 points
Shield Specialization - rank 5/5
This talent setup is designed to deal damage while still being able to tank. The
damage dealt is quite high so it works well for grinding. Because this is
designed to deal damage with crits, equipment should be agility/crit chance fist
and strength/stamina second. It favours a 2h weapon when solo/PvP.
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()5.Soloing
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Soloing as a warrior is quite easy, if a little slow. However, there are some
tricks that make it faster and easier.
1- Bring a 2 handed weapon or dual wield. While you may do slightly better
overall with a shield, it makes battles very, very long.
2- Pull enemies back. If you charge in and stand in the same place, you are
likely to aggro more enemies. While warriors are able to take on two things at
once, its not advised. The other advantage is if you want to run, you donÂ’t have
to run as far, or through swarms of other enemies.
3- Hamstring is nice for escaping. If you try and run without hamstring, the
enemy will daze you and you wonÂ’t survive.
4- Retaliation/recklessness will work on nearly anything. If you have to kill one
high level enemy/elite for a quest or you get attacked by 3+ enemies at once,
use one of these.
5- Bring food. While you donÂ’t have to worry about mana, health regeneration is
still an issue.
6- Beware of casters. Anything that uses a non physical attack such as mages of
fire elementals will not be affected by armour. This means that unless you have
resistance gear, you will die quickly.
7- DonÂ’t try to solo elites. The full rage bug got removed.:(
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()6.Tanking
-----------
Warriors are special because they are the only class that can tank well. Feral
druids can use bear form if they have to and paladins can tank if they can get
aggro but a warrior is always preferred. Unfortunately, there are many warriors
that do not know how to tank and result in the deaths of healers, themselves and
the other group members.
When tanking, you MUST use a shield. The reasons are listed below:
-A shield adds 10-15% to your damage reduction and gives a 5-10% block chance.
This makes you much tougher.
-While your attacks with a 2h generate more aggro and rage, you will need
healing more. This means that the healer generates more aggro so both your jobs
are harder.
-Shield bash requires a shield.
-Revenge doesnÂ’t require a shield but a good block chance can allow you to use
it every time the cooldown is ready. I have 10% parry, 5% dodge and 12% block.
This means that each attack gives a 27% chance to allow revenge. At one
attack/second, I can get the maximum number of revenges.
-If your 1h/shield is too weak, buy a new one. It makes things so much easier.
I have tanked with a 2h before and done it relatively well (I have screenshots
to prove it) but when I switched to using a shield, it became much easier.
The other essential for tanking is defensive stance. It will reduce all damage
taken (physical, magical, fall and any other way you manage to injure yourself)
by 10% and gives a boost to your threat generated which is much more than you
will lose from the -10% damage. If that wasnÂ’t enough, you get taunt and revenge
to generate even more aggro. To get defensive stance, do the level 10 quest from
your class trainer.
Equipment
---------
When tanking, you should use a 1h & shield as mentioned before and mail/plate
armour (depending on level). The stats on equipment should be (starting with the
best):
Appropriate resistance (Go to BRD/MC without fire resistance and you will see
why)
Increased defence (makes you harder to hit)
Stamina/+hitpoints (Everyone loves hitpoints)
Armour (50% damage reduction is easy to get with plate)
Strength/Agility (Both are good but if you are a crit spec, go for agility)
DonÂ’t bother with:
Spirit (Out of combat heals are rare as you should have a priest)
Intellect (You use rage)
Strategy
--------
Your tanking strategy will depend on the type of pull. You should start in
battle stance if you arenÂ’t pulling.
The single basic elite pull
If you are lucky, you will only be facing one enemy. Begin by charging in if
possible, sunder and switch to defensive stance. When in defensive stance, use
bloodrage and use revenge when possible and sunders when it isnÂ’t. This should
keep agro until the enemy is killed.
Simple bosses, (those with no adds/stuns etc) may need some time for you to
build aggro. Just tell everyone to wait until you have 2 or 3 sunders.
The multi elite pull
It is not always possible to fight enemies one at a time. If you must face
multiple enemies, mages/priests/rogues should use crowd control when possible.
If only one enemy remains, aggro it as shown above and move on to the next
enemy.
If you end up fighting 2 or 3 enemies without CC, the difficulty will largely
depend on how the group acts. Ideally, a hunter should put hunters mark on the
enemy that is the main target. Everyone should attack this while you focus your
attacks on it, making sure you hit the others enough to keep them aggroed. If
you donÂ’t have a hunter, make sure everyone knows which enemy the are fighting.
If the group starts hitting different things, there is a trick that can keep
everything aggroed. Target one enemy, hit it with a sunder and use the global
cooldown to target another. Hit revenge or sunder on it and move on. If done
right, this can aggro 3 or 4 mobs at once. If anything breaks free and runs for
a healer or mage, quickly taunt it and get 2 sunders.
If things start to go wrong, prioritise the people you need to keep safe. The
healer should be first, followed by anyone else who can resurrect. Mages and
warlocks are easy to kill and need to be kept safe but rogues & hunters can take
hits and can safely be left for a bit.
The desperate measures pull
If the situation looks desperate, use challenging shout and retaliation. Begin
sundering and revenging. This should hold aggro on most enemies and do a lot of
damage. With a 30 minute cooldown, it should be used only when you have to.
The swarm pull
Sometimes you will be facing a swarm of enemies with very low hp. These should
be aoed by anyone who can while a priest shields them.
Challenging shout-retaliation is fun in this situation but itÂ’s like using
napalm to light a cigarette. I back the party up by war stomping the enemies in
place but you might as well use berserker stance and whirlwind because you wonÂ’t
take aggro.
The mixed pull
When elites and non elites are pulled at the same time, begin by charging and
using thunder clap and focus on the elites. The no-elites will die quickly from
aoes and if you try and show of by tanking them, you could lose the elites.
The Boss and henchmen pull
Many bosses will have a normal enemy to each side of them. They are easy if you
keep the boss aggroed and the group focuses on the adds. Sometimes, you may need
to use shield wall as bosses can deal high damage.
Special bosses
Coming soon...
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()7-PVP
-------
Ignore what anyone says, warriors are a good PvP class. There are some classes
that are hard to beat but the same goes for every class. Just remember that
before you get berserker stance/intercept, you will be kited by everyone. ALWAYS
bring an Insignia of the Horde/Alliance.
One on one/Duels
----------------
Every class has a tactic that you should use against it, although these may need
to be modified to suit your build. DonÂ’t be afraid to use retaliation/shield
wall/recklessness if you have to.
Hunters
-------
Difficulty- Easy (past lvl 30)
Try and start the battle by charging before you get hit or you can end up losing
30-50% hp. If you do get hit, switch to berserker stance and intercept. Once you
are in melee range, use hamstring and make sure the enemy stays hamstringed. Now
all you need to do is battle shout and dps, switching to battle stance if the
enemy dodges. Ignore their pet as it is just giving you more rage.
Rogues
------
Difficulty- Easy-Medium
Chances are, you wonÂ’t be ably to get a charge in because the rogue will
stealth. When you get stun locked, trinket out of it and hamstring the rogue.
Switch to defensive stance to disarm and then use battle stance and hit them
with an overpower every 5 seconds. If you really want to destroy the enemy, use
retaliation and watch as every butter knife stab that they use is retaliated by
a powerful attack. If they use vanish, run forward to where you think they are
and thunder clap.
Druids
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Difficulty- Easy-Medium/Hard
A bad druid will fight by either remaining in an animal form or fighting you in
elf/cow form as a healer.
In bear form they are a weak warrior and are easy to beat
In cat form they are a weak rogue (see above for rogue killing strategy)
In elf/cowform they are a priest with low dps, no damage shield and a heal that
takes ages and can be easily pummelled. Just trinket out of roots and watch out
for them pretending to heal by using a hearthstone. Stop this by hiting them
with a normal attack (or any instant that deals damage such as hamstring) and
pummelling them if they keep casting.
A skilled druid is much more of a problem. They will use stuns and roots to heal
and will switch between forms. Trinket out of anything they try to heal with and
remember that intimidating shout can be used to interrupt casting at short
range. As with any ranged enemy, keep them hamstringed.
Warlocks
--------
Difficulty- Medium (easy if you are undead, even easier if you have resistance
gear.)
The warlock strategy works by causing the enemy to run around with fear cast on
them while DOTs kill them. This is less effective against warriors because of
bloodrage.
Begin by charging and IMMEDIATELY switch to berserker stance and stay there,
even if your opponent dodges. Pummel or otherwise interrupt anything they try
and cast and berserker rage out of fear and return to battle with intercept.
Keep a hamstring on them just in case.
Recklessness will completely destroy locks because it gives you 15 seconds of
fear immunity and causes you to deal at least double damage.
Warlocks can use soulstones to get back up again after dying. They have a 30
minute cooldown and give them low hp and no demon but if you arenÂ’t prepared,
they will kill you.
Warriors
--------
Difficulty- Medium
Warrior fights will usually start with both warriors charging. Use the charge
rage to cast battle shout and switch to berserker stance and berserker rage.
Switch back to battle stance if it suits your stance and start using damage
moves.
At some point, your opponent will disarm you. Switch to defensive stance and
either run if you have hamstringed your opponent, or if you donÂ’t use rend/deep
wounds, use intimidating shout. Bandage if you donÂ’t consider it dishonourable
or get to a distance and prepare to intercept.
When you get reduced to about 30% hp, disarm the enemy. This is the best time to
disarm as it will stop them using execute. Use this opportunity to reduce them
to 20% hp and execute.
One thing you may want to try is duelling a warrior and
both using retaliation...
Priests
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Difficulty- Medium-Hard (shadow resistance recommended)
Begin by charging or, if you get hit first, bloodrage intercept. Keep in
berserker stance but after using hamstring, try and save rage. If they psychic
scream, use berserker rage and intercept. They both have a 30 second cooldown so
you can use it again if necessary. When your opponent shields and tries to heal,
unleash all the rage you have built up, possibly with recklessness activated.
Hopefully, this will break the shield and allow you too pummel them. Shield can
now be cast every 15 seconds so you need to kill them in that time.
Loladins
--------
Difficulty- Hard
They fight like and afk warrior but when reduced to low health, the can
godbubble,stun or incapacitate and heal. However, these techniques can be
countered.
Stun can be removed by trinket
Incapacitate can be removed by berserker rage
Godbubble canÂ’t be countered but if you bandage and start running until it goes,
you can gain health when they use it.
Disarm is good to use when the enemy isnÂ’t trying to heal but overpower is not
recommended as battle stance makes you unable to berserker rage out of
incapacitate effects. However, only a skilled player would react to a stance
change so you should be safe from loladins.
Finish with /spit.
Mages
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Dificulty-RUN
Every class has a class that beats them. In our case, it is mages. Their spells
cause full damage unless you are clad in resistance gear and many instant so you
canÂ’t pummel them. If you get the first hit with charge so the have to blink,
intercept them, hamstring and trinket out of any immobilise effects and possibly
use shield wall you might win but mounting and running is so much less painful.
Shammies (Because I donÂ’t know the plural of Shaman)
----------------------------------------------------
Thanks to info about shamans from Unholyburn.
Difficulty- Hard
As a horde player, I never considered Shamans to be overpowered. However, the
information I have seen has made me reconsider. Despite wearing mail and
carrying shields, shamans can deal good dps in melee and magic, heal themselves
and self res.
When fighting them, get a hamstring in immediately
. If you donÂ’t, frost shock
and earthbind will prevent you getting a hit. Disarm helps as their melee can
hurt. When the use magic, consider saving pummel for a heal as it has a 10
second cooldown and only 4 sec duration.
When dealing with totems, donÂ’t bother switching targets. Instead, use
hamstring on the totem for an instant 10 rage attack and immediately switch back
to your opponent.
If you do kill the shaman, bandage and watch the corpse until they release. They
can self res using reagents with a 40 min cooldown. They get low hp from it but
it can catch you out if you arenÂ’t prepared.
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()8 Professions and secondary skills
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The section is about how useful secondary skills are from a warriorÂ’s point of
view.
Gathering skills
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Herbalism
Useful with- Alchemy
Herbalism is probably the least profitable of the three gathering skills and the
variety of herbs at the same level means it can take up a lot of inventory
space. If youÂ’re a Tauren or an alchemist, this can be good but for a money
generating profession, stick to mining/skinning.
Mining
Useful with- Blacksmithing/Engineering/Enchanting/Skinning
Blacksmithing is a good money making profession, and can be combined with
blacksmithing or engineering. If you donÂ’t take blacksmithing, you can sell the
metal and get another blacksmith to make weight/grinding stones from them.
With mining and/or herbalism, it is a good idea to get a gathering mod.
Skinning
Useful with- Leatherworking/Enchanting/Mining
Skinning is even more profitable than mining if you can sell the leather and
allows you to gain experience while training it. In groups, you can make a
fortune if you are the only skinner.
Production skills
-----------------
Alchemy
Useful with- Herbalism
Alchemy allows you to make your own potions which can be invaluable as you canÂ’t
heal yourself. However, I havenÂ’t seen any BoP potions and the profit margins are
low so you may be better off buying them.
Blacksmithing
Useful with- Mining
Very few trainer items from blacksmithing can break even, let alone make a
profit. However, accessories such as weapon chains, shield spikes, etc can make
money with a little investment to get them plans. Weight/sharpening stones would
also make money but you would have to convince people that they worth using and
can be used by non-blacksmiths. Items from plans can also be profitable but can
take a while to pay back the money for the plans.
The main reason to get blacksmithing is some of the BoP items.
Enchanting
----------
Useful with- Mining/Skinning
Enchanting is actually a very good warrior profession for two reasons-
1.You will have to replace your equipment a lot and have a lot of disenchantable
items that otherwise have to be vendored
2.When you replace equipment, you have to re-enchant it. This way, you donÂ’t
have to pay enchanters and you get a lot of opportunity to train enchanting.
While most enchanters take tailoring because it needs no gathering profession,
warriors are better off taking a gathering skill and selling the items to buy
enchanting mats.
Engineering
-----------
Useful with-Mining
Engineering is fun and some of the array of gadgets benefit warriors. For
example, bombs that incapacitate can be used to interrupt canters from a
distance. However, there is virtually no potential for profit until you can make
stuff for other professions.
Leatherworking
--------------
Use with Skinning
While leatherworking is a good skill if you are a class that can use the
products, warriors can only use bags from leatherworking. The profit margins a
poor-zero so there is very little point taking this.
Tailoring
---------
Tailoring is just as useless as leatherworking, but it uses up expensive cloth
that can be sold or used in first aid.
Secondary Skills
----------------
Fishing
-------
Fishing is frustrating, time consuming and pointless. The only use I have found
is fishing in WC and the oases nearby for deviate fish to make deviate fish
delight.
Cooking
-------
While the materials are rarely sold so you have to gather them yourself, cooking
can be worthwhile because of the well-fed buffs.
First aid
---------
The bandages are great for a non-healing class and the best thing is, they can
be used in battle if you disable the opponent. Intimidating shout works well if
you donÂ’t use rend/deep wounds).
The horde recipes for expert first aid can be bought in the Duskwallow marsh
village with the ogres. The artisan recipes are in Hammerfall, Arathi.
IÂ’m not sure about the ally recipes but they are probably in the ally towns in
those areas.
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()9 Quests